Viral Friday: Love China

Written by Paul van Veenendaal on May 2nd, 2008 |

ViralFriday Viral Friday is the weekly viral video chart of ViralBlog, showing the 10 most popular viral videos, commercials or user-generated videos, carefully selected and ranked by popularity, viral impact & spread.

This weeks Viral Friday #1 position goes to Love China. Chinese internet users en masse added “Love China” or “(L) China” to their MSN chat names as a patriotic gesture. The runner up spot is for Britain’s Got Talent: Michael Jackson. Opera singer Paul Potts became an internet meme thanks to Britain’s Got Talent and YouTube, will Michael Jackson imitator Suleman Mirza follow in his footsteps? Shortsbus.com completes this week’s top 3 with Trapped in an Elevator with Diarrhea. A funny parody to last week’s #1 position “Trapped in an Elevator for 41 Hours”.

Do you want to see this week’s list from 1 to 10? Go on then, and have a look! We’d like to hear your opinion about the virals. Have fun!

1. Love China

Chinese internet users en masse added “Love China” or “(L) China” to their MSN chat names since April 16th as a patriotic gesture in response to Western bullying over the recent Beijing Olympic Games protests. MSN China caught wind of this phenomenon shortly after it erupted, and quickly released an article on their website claiming that MSN China was calling on “Chinese people worldwide to use the red heart to express their love for China as well as to support Beijing’s Olympic Games”. As a result the number of red heart users reached roughly 3.5 million (as of one week ago), according to a Contagious report. (Source: TechCrunch, Culture-buzz)

2. Britain’s Got Talent: Michael Jackson

America’s Got Talent is an American reality television series that features amateur singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of US$1 million. In the British version of the series, Bitain’s Got Talent, the three judges (Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden) were treated to an amazing performance by Michael Jackson imitator Suleman Mirza. The clip got over 2.5 million views in just one week time.

3. Trapped in an Elevator with Diarrhea

Last week Trapped in an Elevator for 41 Hours scored Viral Friday’s #1 position. Shortsbus.com made a very funny spoof of the incredible story of the 34-year-old New Yorker Nicolas White. The parody got 1.1 million views on Break.com in just a few days.

4. Nike: Take It To The Next Level

Nike Football launched a new campaign for Euro ‘08, titled Take it to the Next Level. Several football stars like Huntelaar, Gallas, Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Materazzi, Ibrahimovic, Cesc Fabergas, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldinho appear in the video which was directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Revolver).

5. IBM Lenovo Ultra Portable PC versus MacBook Air

After the MacBook Air spoof of The Bureau we now see China’s biggest computer manufacturer Lenovo with a their version of the Apple commercial.

6. Viva Chihuahuas!

Walt Disney started a viral marketing action to promote their new film Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The action site www.heel.la states: “My friends, my name is Papi. Viva Chihuahuas. We have been dressed in sweaters and carried in purses. I say no mas! I am tired of the jokes about our size. We will not be toys or fashion accessories. We will not answer to Fee Fee or Foo Foo. No mas! Viva Chihuahuas! Who is with me? Heel!”

7. Häagen-Dazs: Help the Honey Bees

American ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs launched the very cool website helpthehoneybees.com and accompanying commercial to tell us about the “honey bee populations which are disappearing at an alarming rate”. And because the ice cream manufacturer relies on honey bees who “are responsible for pollinating one-third of all the food we eat, including many of the ingrtedients that define our all-natural ice creams.” Advertising agencies Goodby, Silverstein & Partner and Psyop created the ‘Help the Honey Bees’ campaign. As a part of the campaign Häagen-Dazs donates $250,000 to Colony Collapse Disorder research. (Source: Reclamewereld, Apitherapy News, De Standaard)

8. Facebook In Reality

Idiots of Ants, a London based comedy group, made a funny sketch for BBC’s The Wall about how Facebook would look in real life.

9. Zurich Chamber Orchestra: Rollercoaster

Euro RSCG transformed sheet music into a roller coaster to promote the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

10. Jordan: Maybe It’s My Fault

Basketball legend Michael Jordan tells future legends “Maybe it’s my fault”. He explains he might gave the impression that his success came naturally. Well, it did not. “Not every shot was a game winner”. The commercial was made by Wieden + Kennedy New York. (Source: Reclamewereld)